I think it was Bob Moog who had pointed out that many traditional instruments were reflecting the state of technology at the time of their invention. A piano, once at a time, wasn’t much different from a complex software synthesizer running on a high end PC now.
Sounds are just sounds. Music is the combination and arrangement of those sounds, and what they_express_. I feel that the medium that produces the sounds is secondary: more like a pen than the story.
Wise words. My gripe with VST music is that the one constant I’ve had with new computers is the lack of continuity with software versions / licenses and operating systems. Effectively orphaning tracks each time with each new device. I like to be able to use different computers for the same tracks. It’s just what I prefer.
Wise words. My gripe with VST music is that the one constant I’ve had with new computers is the lack of continuity with software versions / licenses and operating systems. Effectively orphaning tracks each time with each new device. I like to be able to use different computers for the same tracks. It’s just what I prefer.
thats why i have chosen renoise! my finished tracks allways is everything resampled and no external vsts just all native xrns, and tracks i made 6 years ago still works as charm! can i say tracker arrangement or interface is better that piano roll? no! sometimes it is pain in the bottocks, but it is stable and absolutely works for me! what i cant say for native instruments stuff saying ‘’ hey! we have an update for you, so now half of your custom sound groups is not working anymore, but dont worry, that was shitty groups anyway! good luck reopening all your projects and reassigning everything’’
so yea you are in big trouble if must move to another pc, however renoise files is like a bank. you put your songs in a safe and have a good insurance on them, that no matter what, they will be safe! everything else hardware synths and shiny midi toys is just a soundsource, good for sampling
I had a bunch of hardware, and gotten the redundant ones. Now I have a smaller kit, but it feels a lot more “personal”. I know them inside and out. I can get results quickly with them. Plus I got some pocket money to spend on other things. Like a brand new chair!!
Devil’s advocate: I love my hardware synths. Loooooove. Will be using them till the day they (or I) die. My 30yo Roland JX-10 is a particular favorite now that its firmware has been homebrew-updated. Love my Microbrute and Kawai K1 also. Even my D-50, corny as it is. OTOH, I have “buyer’s remorse” for buying Massive and Sylenth1 a few years ago. They’re good, don’t get me wrong, but I never use them because I like the sound of the hardware better. I’ve tried getting VSTi’s to make the kind of sounds the JX makes right out of the box, and failed, and I’m a pretty good synthesist. I’ll admit that dealing with wiring and latency can be a bit of a problem, but not near enough to inspire me to ditch hardware.
Edit: actually should add, I only use VST FX, never hardware. That includes on-board FX on my hardware synths, I invariably turn them off and only use VST. Also, I own the Korg Legacy VSTs, they’re fantastic, and actually sold my hardware M1 when I discovered that the software version sounds almost exactly alike and is much easier to use. The MS-20 VSTi is the weakest, doesn’t really sound like an MS-20, but is still good in its own right.
Started out ITB (A500 Octamed)
Owned lots of hardware and Atari ST, was creative but slow.
Sold hardware and went ITB (before most actually, pre pentium) was creative but excrutiating haha.
upgraded ever since and stayed ITB until about three years ago when started using the live rig for recording, again still creative but slow.
Two years ago got Maschine, quite literally game changed forever, most creative ever, fast, and other than NI systematically trying to destroy its own creation with crap updates and expansion packs that sound like toilets being flushed, I will never go back.
Still need a DAW for tracking, but they day i completely removed NIs factory content and started from scratch, my music making life has never been better.
Hopefully Redux phrases will be a boon to that too
NI systematically trying to destroy its own creation with crap updates and expansion packs that sound like toilets being flushed, I will never go back.
Hopefully Redux phrases will be a boon to that too
oh i feel you, i use maschine as a middle tool and sampling it with mpc, before i used renoise sample editor, anyway renoise sampler is the best hands down. hopefully redux will make me want use maschine much more
Renoise Sampler is limited for big instruments, it just isn’t designed for that and the devs have confirmed Redux is the same, so for me it isn’t really on par with Maschines modular sampling engine, but the phrases should be some next level ableton like clips in Maschine
Kontakt is the only thing around for big instruments really, they have that area tied up too.
